معرفی
Dr. Lei Cao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), part of the College of Engineering. She leads the Cao Research Group, focusing on computational solid mechanics and materials science. Her research explores microstructure evolution, dislocation dynamics, and phase transformations in metals and alloys using advanced modeling techniques like phase-field methods and molecular dynamics.
Dr. Cao holds a B.S. from Tsinghua University and a Ph.D. from Purdue University. She has secured prestigious awards, including the NSF CAREER Award, and leads multiple NSF-funded projects investigating twin boundary engineering in titanium alloys, magnesium deformation mechanisms, and thermoelectric material design.
Her research interests span deformation twinning in hexagonal close-packed materials, ultrafast laser processing effects, and fracture mechanisms in superhard materials like boron carbide. Recent work includes studies on transformation-induced plasticity in omega titanium and nanocrystalline Cu's strain hardening.
Dr. Cao advises several graduate students and has mentored postdocs and visiting scholars. Her lab collaborates with institutions like Los Alamos National Laboratory and focuses on integrating computational models with experimental data to advance material performance predictions.
- Education: B.S., Tsinghua University; Ph.D., Purdue University
- Funding: NSF CAREER, NASA Seed Grant, Multiple NSF Awards
- Teaching: ME 303 (Applied Numerical Methods), ME 701 (Advanced Mathematical Methods)
